GB-B-2157329 discloses a method of making an abrading sheet material which comprises knitting a ground structure from a mixture of a polyester yarn of a heat shrinkable PVC yarn with laid-in floated threads of a second material of polyester which is harder than and either non-shrinkable or less shrinkable than the ground structure materials and shrinking the ground structure so that loops of the second material are raised from a surface thereof.
GB-B-2157329 also discloses an abrading sheet material comprising a knitted ground structure including yarns polyester and of a heat shrinkable PVC material having laid in floated threads of a second material of polyester which is harder than and either non-shrinkable or less shrinkable than the ground structure materials, the ground structure being shrunk causing loops of the second material to extend from a surface thereof.
Material made in accordance with GB-B-2157329 provides good abrading properties but possesses certain disadvantages. Thus, for example, heat shrinkable PVC yarns are expensive. Also it is not readily possible to heat weld or bond such known abrading materials since the melt temperatures of the yarns which make up the ground structure of the known abrading material are widely separated. Thus, at present it is necessary to secure such materials to a backing or the like by stitching and/or an adhesive in order to form an abrasive pad.
It is an object of the invention to provide an abrading material which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an abrading material which may readily be heat welded or bonded to other materials, e.g. plastics foam materials.